Latest News

ENS Sunday highlights – MS, migraine, stroke and ALS

June 9, 2013

Report from the European Neurological Society (ENS) annual meeting
Barcelona, Spain, June 8-11, 2013

Multiple sclerosis
Migraine
Vestibular disorders
Stroke
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Comment by Dr. Daniel Selchen, Toronto, Canada

Multiple sclerosis: An analysis of long-term data from the PRISMS study of IFNbeta-1a indicates that baseline EDSS score and a change in EDSS from baseline to month 24 of treatment strongly predict outcomes at 15-year follow-up (Kappos et al. ENS 2013). Conclusions were based on follow-up of 291 subjects of the 560 patients (52%) originally enrolled.

Who prescribes DMTs for MS?

June 5, 2013

An analysis of an Ontario claims database shows that a small proportion of neurologists prescribe most of the disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for MS (Marriott et al. Can J Neurol Sci 2013;40:67-72). Overall, 80% of DMT prescriptions were written by 12% of the neurologist community.

Predictive factors for intractable pediatric epilepsy

June 5, 2013

A single-centre study examined drug response in pediatric patients to determine retrospectively the predictive factors for intractable epilepsy (Seker et al. Pediatr Neurol 2013;48:52-55). Intractable epilepsy was defined as continued seizures following adequate treatment with >2 antiepileptic drugs for >18 months.

West Nile virus: the season is upon us

May 22, 2013

West Nile virus (WNV) is an RNA viral pathogen of the Flaviviridae family that is genetically related to CNS viral pathogens such as dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis. The virus is maintained in the bird population and transmitted through a mosquito vector. When first described in 1940 (Smithburn et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1940;1:471-492) in a patient in Uganda, WNV infection produced a mild fever. But the virulence appeared to change in the 1990s with descriptions of severe WNV-associated neurological disease (Hubalek & Halouzka. Emerging Infect Dis 1999; 5:643-650).

122